walked home, he didn’t even stop when they arrived and had lunch together. Seungcheol kept
smiling so fondly at his little brother, listening to him patiently.
Until the telephone rang.
Seungcheol’s cheerful ‘hello’ quickly turned into a heavy silence. He talked in a low voice,
almost whispering, as if not wanting Jihoon to hear it. Between the sound of his clanking fork
and loud chewing, Jihoon could only make out some words.
“Please, Sir, can you give me just a few more days?”
“I promise I’ll pay, Sir, please don’t raise the rent...”
Jihoon put his fork down. His plate was still half full. He saw Seungcheol’s shoulder shaking.
He got down from his chair, ran to hug Seungcheol from behind, just when his brother
finished the phone call after repeated apologies. He could hear his brother heaving a sigh as
he clung tighter to his waist, but the next thing Jihoon saw was his smile. His kind and sincere
smile. One thing that always made Jihoon believe that he’s safe, that everything’s going to be
okay.
But seeing it now made Jihoon’s heart ache.
“Hey, why the sad face?” With his unfaltering smile, Seungcheol knelt to wipe the corner of
Jihoon’s eye. “Everything’s okay, Jihoonie. We’re okay.”
Jihoon sniffed, holding on to his brother’s arm.
“Really?”
“Really.” Seungcheol patted his head gently. “When did I ever lie to you?”
That’s right. His brother never lied. Jihoon messily wiped his runny nose and nodded.
“Okay.”
Seungcheol smiled wider, looking at his little brother like he is his most precious thing in the
world. The only thing that matters. “Good boy. Come on, let’s finish our lunch. We can’t let
the waffles get soggy.”
Jihoon did as he was told. Seungcheol asked about his friends again, Jihoon told him about
their playing time in the kindergarten earlier. Their waves of laughter came back, filling their
small house with its pleasant sound, lifting the heavy feeling off Jihoon’s chest.
But people said good things never last longer than the bad ones.
When Jihoon helped his brother cleaning the table and tidying the dining room, Jihoon found